1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sprinkler heads and drip irrigation emitters. More particularly, it relates to sprinkler heads and emitters capable of being manually directed to project water toward any desired direction, and sprinkler heads and emitters that can emit water in multiple directions simultaneously.
2. Description of the Related Art
In drip irrigation, water is distributed at point locations throughout a field and is slowly and efficiently released and directed toward the roots of plants. The advent of plastic pipes made such a watering system economical to install. The installation of an emitter is a simple procedure. Essentially a plastic watering pipe is laid out in a field. Holes are punched into the pipe and emitters are installed by inserting into the hole a plunger located at the base of the emitter. The pipe itself serves as the physical support for the emitter. Typically a multiplicity of such emitters is mounted on a single pipe.
Many emitters have been patented. These include U.S. Pat. No. 4,2121,771 by Hendrickson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,820 by Bright, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,368 by Hunter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,798 by Lemelstrich, U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,083 by Tucker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,481 by Lemkin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,531 by Littleton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,657 by Roberts, U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,102 by Daigle et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,571 by Cohen.